Golf ball washing machine having hopper means for feeding balls and liquid thereto



Wm w z w I m m 3s A! "a r E I R. E. DAVY Filed Sept. 18. 1958 GOLF BALL.WASHING MACHINE HAVING HOPPER MEAN FOR FEEDING BALLS AND LIQUID THERETOI June 12, 19-62 United States Patent GOLF BALL WASHING MACHINE HAVINGHOP- PER MEANS FOR FEEDING BALLS AND LIQUID THERETO Robert E. Davy,Lemon Grove, Calif., assignor to M aster Machine Corporation of SanDiego, National City, Calif., a corporation of California Filed Sept.18, 1958, Ser. No. 761,743 1 Claim. (Cl. 15-21) This invention relatesto a washing machine and has 1 while immersed in water and'thereafterdelivered to a draining and drying rack, and whereby the washingoperation may be rapidly and thoroughly eifected.

With the foregoing objects in view together with such other objects andadvantages as may subsequently appear, the inventionresides in the partsand in the combination, construction and arrangement of partshereinafter described and claimed, and as illustrated by way of examplein the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a view in sideelevation partly in section of the ball washingmachine with portions broken away;

FIG. 2 is a plan view with portions removed;

FIG. 3 is a view in horizontal section as seen on the line 3-3 of FIG. 1showing the manner in which the balls are initially fed to the washingapparatus; and

FIG. 4 is a view in horizontal section taken on the line 4-4 of FIG. 1depicting the manner in which the balls are discharged from the washingapparatus.

Referring to the drawings more specifically A indicates a hopper for thereception of a quantity of balls to be washed and B designates generallya washing apparatus to which the balls in the hopper are fedsuccessively one at a time by gravity. The hopper A and the washingapparatus B are supported on a frame 5 which may be of any suitableconstruction.

The washing apparatus B embodies a tank 6 having an upstandingcylindrical side wall 7 and having a downwardly and inwardly inclinedbottom wall 8 leading to a drain outlet 9 fitted with a cut-off valve10. The upper end of the tank 7 is closed by a cover 11 which isdetachably connected by bolts 15 to a flange 16 fixed on the tank sidewall which bolts pass through the cover 11 and are screwed intoengagement with the flange.

A revoluble shaft D extends axially of tank 7 through the cover 11 andhas its lower end journalled in a bearing 17 on a spider 18 carried onthe interior of the tank. The upper end of the shaft D is fitted with adriven pulley 20 engaged by a belt 21 passing around a driving pulley 22on the d'rive shaft of an electric motor E. The motor E is fixed on avertical panel 23 hinged at 24 on one vertical edge thereof to the tankside wall 7 to swing horizontally and having a bolt 25 threaded throughits opposite edge arranged to bear at its inner end against a stop 26 onthe tank side wall 7, the bolt serving as a means for adjusting thepanel 23 outward to take up slack in the belt 21.

Fixed on the shaft D is a cylindrical brush F the outer periphery ofwhich is concentric with the cylindrical side wall 7 of the tank 6 andextends in spaced relation thereto a distance slightly less than thediameter of a golf ball H.

20 each ball is individually subjected to a scrubbing action The brush Fhas its lower end spaced above the bottom Wall 8 of the tank and has itsupper end spaced a short distance below the cover 11. j

Fixedly carried on the inner face of the side wall of the tank andsurrounding the brush F is a spiral runway G the lower end of whichleads from a ball intake 27 extending through the tank side wall and theupper'end of which terminates below but adjacent the upper end of thebrush F and leads to a ball outlet 28 in the upper portion of the tankside wall. The inner margin of the runway G lies close to the peripheryof the brush F. A longitudinally inclined tubular conduit 29 connectswith the lower end of the hopper A and has its lower end connected tothe intake 27. The conduit 29 has a diame ter slightly greater than thediameter of a golf ball H so I that such balls will feed from the troughA in a row and be delivered successively one at a time into the spaceextending between the side wall of the tank and the cylindricalperimeter of the brush F as shown in FIG. 3.

A chute 30 leads from the outlet 28 with its outer end extending over adrainage rack 31comprising a pair of spaced parallel rails, the chute 30serving to direct balls delivered from the outlet 28 onto the rails ofthe rack 31 which rails are supported in' a slightly downwardly inclinedposition on and spaced above a'tilted drip-pan 32 and leading to aportable basket 33 removably supported on a member 5' of the frame 5. Adischarge pipe 34 leads from the pan 32 and connecting with the conduit29 to deliver the water deposited on the pan to the conduit.

A bafile 35 extends from the margin of the intake'27 at the side thereofopposite the direction of approach to the runway G'to confine the flowof balls to such direction and a baffle 36 extends inwardly from theside of the outlet 28 opposite the approach of the runway G fordeflecting the balls H from the runway through the outlet.

Means are provided for delivering wash water to the interior of thewashing apparatus B, which means is here shown as comprising a faucet 37connected to a suitable source of Water supply and arranged to directwater into the hopper A and conduit 29.

Water thus delivered to the hopper flows through the conduit 29 into thetank 6 through the intake 27 and is supplied in a quantity to establisha water level in the tank a short distance below the outlet 28 with aportion of the water occupying the conduit 29 so as to submerge theballs H as they pass through the conduit. The brush F will thus besubmerged in water except that its upper end will project slightly abovethe water level to a point above the upper convolution of the runway G.Likewise the runway G will be submerged from its lower end to a pointadjacent the upper end thereof.

In the operation of the invention, balls H to be washed are deposited inthe hopper A, after delivering wash water to the washing apparatus byopening the faucet 37 to fill the tank 6 and conduit 29 as beforedescribed. A detergent may be added to the water in the hopper ifdesired. The motor E is then set in operation thereby rotating the brushF which is turned in the direction of the ascending convolutions of thespiral runway G.

The balls placed in the hopper A feed into the inclined conduit 29 andare discharged at the lower end of the conduit by the action of gravityas before stated, the balls being delivered one at a time through theinlet 27 into the tank onto the lower convolution of the runway G wherethe balls are successively frictionally engaged by the tips of thebristles of the rotating brush F and are thereby caused to roll upwardalong the runway. The space between the periphery of the brush F and theinner face of the encompassing cylindrical wall of the tank 7 isslightly less than the diameter of the balls H, so that the balls beingheld by the tank wall against movement away from the brush, will beengaged by the bristles under such pressure that movement of the ballsupward along the runway will be insured. The balls in traversing therunway with a rolling movement the surfaces of the balls will besubjected to a brushing or scrubbing action while submerged in the bodyof wash water contained in the tank such as to effect the removal ofdirt and foreign matter with which the balls were fouled.

As the brush revolves it acts as a circulating pump in that it effectsadvance of a portion of the water content of the tank to dischargethrough the outlet 28 where such water is collected by the pan 32 anddelivered to the conduit 29 to be directed thereby back into the tank.The balls discharged from the outlet 28 are delivered by the trough 30onto the rack 31 and then roll down the latter to discharge into thebasket 33, water carried by the balls being drained therefrom as theballs traverse the rack and returned to the tank by the drip-pan 32,pipe 34 and conduit 29. Solids removed from the balls H within the tank7 settle to and accumulate in a sump I at the lower end of the tank forsubsequent removal, and are drained from the tank from time to time byopening the drain valve 10 at the lower end thereof.

In event the balls are so badly fouled as not to be sulficiently cleanedby a single run through the washing apparatus, they may obviously bedelivered to the hopper A for a further treatment.

While a specific embodiment of the invention has been shown, I do notlimit myself to the exact details of construction set forth, and theinvention embraces such changes, modifications and equivalents of theparts and their formation and arrangement as come within the purview ofthe appended claim.

I claim:

In a ball washing machine, embodying a tank adapted to contain acleaning solution, said tank comprising an upstanding rigid cylindricalside wall and top and bottom walls, said side wall having an inletopening spaced above said bottom wall and having an outlet openingadjacent said top wall and spaced above said inlet opening, a fixedspiral runway mounted on the inner side of said tank side wall having alower end leading from said inlet opening and an upper end leading tosaid outlet opening, a vertically extending revoluble cylindrical brushin said tank encompassed by said spiral runway and having upper andlower ends projecting above and below the ends of said runway and havingits periphery arranged to engage and advance balls upward along saidrunway from said inlet opening and through said outlet on rotation ofsaid brush; the improvement comprising a hopper exteriorly of said tankarranged adjacent the upper end of said tank having a lower end disposedon a plane spaced above said inlet opening, and a tubular conduitleading between the lower end of said hopper to said inlet openingadapted to convey both balls to be washed and liquid from said hopper tosaid tank, said hopper and conduit being adapted to deliver liquid tosaid tank to a predetermined level spaced below said outlet opening.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS665,201 Fay et al. Jan. 1, 1901 703,916 Haley July 1, 1902 2,005,115Stutz June 18, 1935 2,217,256 McOauley Oct. 8, 1940 2,528,341 CreelyOct. 31, 1950 2,691,786 Reading Oct. 19, 1954 2,847,697 Bried Aug. 19,1958 MK I

